Every Heart has a Song
by klaineluvr4eva
Summary: Not everyone's life is perfect, many don't ever achieve happiness. But then there are a select few who find love and are able to live the famed "happily ever after". I might be one of those people but I tend to disagree. I was just simply lucky to live past sixteen. But nothing comes without a price.


_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize. I only own my OCs. :) enjoy!**_

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Not everyone's life is perfect, many don't ever achieve happiness. But then there are a select few who find love and are able to live the famed "happily ever after". I might be one of those people but I tend to disagree. I was just simply lucky to live past sixteen. Meeting my "one and only" was just an added bonus, but I will spend the rest of my life cherishing this precious chance to live. But nothing comes without a price. And oh was it big.

I live in a secluded village on Midgard (Earth) with my people. The village of my childhood was one of many throughout the realm, though it was the largest and most advanced. My parents where the leaders of our people, sort of making my siblings and I royalty. We lived peacefully, hidden from the Midgardians. Along with the Asgardians, though I don't know why but I was told that if they found us we were never to return back to our beloved home, for some unknown reason. I don't want to find out. So my mother cast a spell over our people; hiding them from the watchful gaze of the gatekeeper.

But, there are other beings in this universe that can see through the charm. The Nunda is the one thing that strikes fear into the hearts of my people, for they are our predator and we their prey. With dark grey fur with black stripes and spots, yellow eyes, with sharp deadly teach and claws. It somewhat resembles the Midgardian domesticated tabby cat.

It is with this creature that my tale begins. For on that day, all I knew came crashing down around me.

* * *

"Run Gena! Run!" I hear my mother yelling at me. Urging me to keep going. Afraid to look back when I hear a bloodcurdling scream.

I hear something running behind me, but I didn't dare turn around, for I knew what it was. The creature of our nightmares, the Mngwa. The Nunda.

The sun peers over the mountains in the East, when I can hear the running fall away. I keep moving, knowing the woods are a dangerous place at night. After another couple miles I can make out a cave in the darkness. Making sure no animals had inhabited the cave, I settle down for the night. But sleep evades my exhausted body, pictures of my village being slaughtered plague my mind. I am truly alone now. Three hours later, I finally fall into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _My father had send word to the other villages that his eldest daughter had come of age, bringing many suitors to our village. I didn't see how this wasn't some kind of punishment, I didn't want to be married off to the highest bidder. I wanted to live my life how I wanted,_ _ **free**_ _._

 _But I had not say in the matter, I would be married by the end of the season. To our highest noble's son. The bigot didn't even look me in the eyes for they were too attached to my chest. My mother had spent all morning on making me look like a suitable bride. Dressing me up like a doll, a doll with no feels or self-worth._

 _Of course, that was all for naught because as soon as one of the potential "suitors" tried to make a grab for me, I reacted like any female warrior would. I flipped him on his back in less than a second, grabbed his horse and rode off to be only safe place._

 _Only one other person knew of this place, and sure enough, not two minutes from reaching the entrance did he come running. Alarik was the eldest of my siblings, and truly my best friend._

 _"Gena stop!" he called to me, causing me to pause long enough for his mount to catch up._

 _"Leave me alone Alarik, I'm not going back there. Not until all of them are gone."_

 _"I'm not here to take you back, I'm helping you hide."_

 _I smile at my brother as he rides alongside me, he's always on my side, "Thank you."_

 _Once we reach the meadow hidden behind a waterfall and Alarik dismounted his black stallion and helped my down from my "borrowed" stead. We left them to graze as they please while the two of us sat in the sun._

" _I can't believe he's making me do this, I don't want to get married yet, I haven't even lived! They just don't understand." I cry, clinging to Alarik, ruining his shirt with my tears. He didn't say anything just wrapped his arms around me, cradling me and stroking my hair. Alarik didn't make any attempt in stopping my tears, he knew I needed to cry._

 _I don't know how long we sat there but we ended up falling asleep and when we awoke it was near dusk. We looked at one another and immediately thought the same thing._

 _Race back to the village._

 _I shoved him down with a laugh, earning a head start, jumping on my horse I was sprinting through the dark forest with Alarik right behind me._

 _Unaware of the hungry eyes following us home._

 _End of Flashback_

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I awoke suddenly to the sound of a twig snapping outside the cave, then a heavy thud. Waiting a few minutes, expecting a mngwa to jump out into the cave. When nothing happened I crept out of the cave slowly and ever so quietly. Peering around the corner I spot a limb wear hand-made breeches and footwear. I crawl closer to inspect the body, to find it was Alarik. He wasn't breathing.

Grief wracked through my body as I cradled the body of my brother to me. Cursing the heavens for taking all that was dear to me. I notice the bush to my right shake, I make no move to run. I wanted to die. With my people, with my brother. Like I was meant to back in the village. Not abandoning them when they needed me most. When the shaking stopped I prepared myself for the strike.

But what jumped out of the bushed surprised me. It was my youngest sister Karlotte. Her blonde ringlets had twigs in them from hiding in the bush and her dress was torn. But none of that mattered to me, she was alive. Scared and crying but alive.

"Lotte!" I cried, running to embrace her.

"Gena!" she wailed, meeting me halfway. I hugged her closely, falling to me knees as we cried together. I brushed the twigs out of her silky hair, caressing her tear stained face, making sure in fact she was real. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see my sister in my entire life.

"Gena I was so scared. When Alarik woke me up and carried me into the woods, I didn't understand what was going on. I wanted Mama, then when I looked behind us I saw-" she started trembling, "It was so scary!" she cried, clinging to me like her life depended on it. "Then it jumped and fell on top of us. Alarik yelled at me to run and I did. But I didn't want to! I was just so scared." She wailed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "But I didn't want to! I was just so scared!" she buried her head into my chest, like she was trying to hide from the world, "Then I heard something running behind me so I hid in that bush. I didn't know it was Alarik. I'm sorry Gena. I'm so sorry." She wept, shaking her head back in forth.

I just shh'd he, whispering 'it's okay, you're okay'.

"Come on there's a cave over here. We'll rest here for tonight then we'll go and look to see if anyone else is lost and on their own, yeah?" she nodded and opened her arms like when she was younger, asking to be carried. Wrapping my arms around her, she nuzzled her face into my hair, and I carried her back to the cave.

* * *

Our quest to see if anyone else had survived was fruitless, we only found the dead bodies of our people. So we did what had to be done so that no one knew that we were ever there. Piling as much dried underbrush into as many places we could fit, we set fire to our home and walked away.

Later on, I was hunting for our dinner when I found a decent sized tree that we could easily build a small safe house in. Smiling to myself, maybe we would survive this tragedy.

After catching a small deer and a few fish, I travelled back to the cave where I had left my sister.

"Lotte!?" I called, then smiled when I saw her blonde little head come bounding out of the cave.

She helped me carry our prizes into our make-shift shelter. She had kept the fire going too, making it easier to cook the fish while we used our mother's teachings to the fullest as we skinned the deer and harvested its flesh. Once we had our fill we wrapped the rest in leaves and hid it high in the tress so other animals couldn't steal it. Then we gathered the deer pelt and carried it down to a nearby river to cleanse it.

One thing I heard about the humans that I couldn't stand was that humans didn't use every part of their kills, it was such a waste and a slap in the face to the Great Mother that provides the very land they call home. Whatever you can't eat, you can use in another way, it makes the animal's sacrifice more sacred.

When the pelt was clean, we carried it back to the cave and settled down for the night. My sister hadn't said much since our return to the cave. When I turned to question her, I barely caught the small whimper that escaped her mouth. Turning to face her fully I can see her face is stained with silent tears.

"Oh Lotte." I croon, gathering her into my arms as her sobs wracked her tiny body. No child should have to experience this kind of grief. Comforting her was not foreign territory to me, so I just rubbed her hair and back and sang the lullaby our mother used to sing to us.

 _Imba wimbo_ _(Sing a song)_

 _Wa upepo_ _(and for a moment)_

 _Wakati unajiwa na_ _(you will be visited by the wind)_

 _Imba wimbo wa upepo_ _(sing a song and for a moment)_

 _Wakati ndoto tamu_ _(dream sweetly of the wind)_

 _Lala mpak usiku uisheni_ _(sleep now until the night is dawn)_

 _Upepo wa wsuiku_ _(the wind & the night song)_

 _Wimbo wanko na_ _(they are there)_

 _Wimbo wangu_ _(however the song)_

 _inaendele milele_ _(my child will go on forever)_

As the last note faded into silence, I looked over my sister's sleeping form. After adding another log to the fire, I snuggled her body to mine, burying my face into her hair as I fell asleep.

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 ** _Hi guys!_**

 ** _This is my first attempt at actually uploading a fic on this website. I've been toying with the idea for 2 years, and finally said, "What the Hell." and here we are._**

 ** _This fic is a work in progress, and I am trying to update whenever I have a free moment during work, class, and homework. So I hope you'll bare with me, and we'll all end up on the other side. Trust me, I already now how this is going to go. It's just the getting there that's the issue :/ but so far so good! As I upload this I am currently working on the next chapter._**

 ** _I don't know if I'll ever have a scheduled update day like other authors, trust me I wish I was them. But I will try to keep from going extended periods of time without updating without notification beforehand._**

 ** _The lullaby that Gena sings in this chapter is called Windsong by James Horner from the movie Mighty Joe Young_**

 ** _Thank you so much for reading!  
And enjoy the ride :)_**


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